Method and apparatus for handling hosiery and the like



ay 16, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 Sheets-Sheet l 'INVENTOR.

CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

ay 16, 1%? c. HORBERG. JR 3,319,351

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE. LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 l4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR. CHARLES HORBERG JR. BY

ATTYS.

May 16, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,351

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 Sheets-Sheet (5 FIG.

ATTYS,

May N5, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE l4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Nov 26. 1963 INVENTOR. CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

ATTYS.

BY A ,M%zz, zZ/w/ y 16, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIEHY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. CHARLES HORBERQJR.

BY A 19, M m

ATTYS.

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY ANI) THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

14 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTORA CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

May 16, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,351

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 Sheets-Sheet CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

BY www wg y 6 967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 Sheets-Sheet 7 INVENTOR. 45 CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

May 16, 1937 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIE'RY AND THE LIKE Filed NOV. 26, 1963 14 sheetshsheet 9 E Q N E H) q N 54 FIG. 13

INVENTOR. CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

BY 21 i WwM y %ZYW/ E ATTYS.

y 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26. 1963 14 SheetsSheet 10 INVENTOR.

CHARLES HORBERG JR. BY

7 7 ATTYS.

May 16, 1967 Filed Nov. 26. 1963 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE l4 Sheets-Sheet l 1 INVENTOR.

CHARLES HORBERG JR. BY

AM M 01 /5 y 6, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,319,851

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 Sheets-Sheet 12 FIG. 17

INVENTOR. CHARLES HORBERG JR.

A 4,M(/ A May 16, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR 3,

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 26, 1963 14 SheeLs-Sheet 15 I Q I I we Il N INVENTOR. CHARLES HORBERG, JR.

May 16, 1967 c. HORBERG, JR

METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HOSIERY AND THE LIKE l4 Sheets-Sheet 14 Filed Nov. 26. 1963 HG. W

INVENTOR- CHARLES HORBERG JR. fi/Z W ATTYS.

United States Patent ()filice 3,319,851 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR HANDLING HUSIERY AND THE LIKE Charles Horherg, In, flhicago, IlL, assignor to Paramount Textile Machinery Co., tankakee, IllL, a corporation of Illinois Filed Nov. 26, 1963, Ser. No. 326,127 13 Claims. (Cl. 223ll2) The present invention pertains to methods and machines for handling hosiery and the like, and more particularly to improvements in a method and in automatic or semiautomatic machines for treating or handling hosiery or other articles on forms, and for thereafter automatically removing the articles from the forms and collecting the articles in a neat and orderly manner.

In the course of hosiery manufacturing and finishing operations, hosiery articles are commonly placed on forms or boards and are subjected to one or more processing operations while on the forms. In one such operation, often called boarding, wet or damp hosiery articles are placed on boards having the shape desired for the finished articles, and are dried thereon while in a stretched or semi-stretched condition. In this manner the hosiery is, in effect, blocked so as to give the hosiery its final desired shape while, at the same time, removing undesired wrinkles and folds from the goods. In other processing operations, hosiery is often set on forms or boards by subjecting the goods to steam or other controlled atmospheres, the operation causing the articles plastically to assume the shape of the forms or boards upon which they are mounted.

In all such operations, it has been common in the past manually to pull the stockings onto the forms or boards and also manually to remove the goods from the forms when the processing has been completed. Although mounting the hosiery upon forms by hand has certain advantages in insuring that the hosiery is properly positioned on the forms, the manual removal of the goods from the forms upon completion of the operation has been both laborious and uncomfortable for the operator, particularly because the hosiery and the forms are often still hot when the removal is to be effected. In order to overcome this problem and to speed production, machines have previously been suggested and built for treating hosiery on forms and for thereafter stripping the hosiery from the forms and for collecting the stripped goods. My copending patent application, Ser. No. 258,795, filed Feb. 15, 1963, discloses and claims a highly-improved machine of this type, and the present invention is directed to further improvements in machines of the general character there disclosed and to improvements in the methods of stripping and collecting the hosiery or like articles.

One of the principal objects of the present invention is to provide, in a machine for stripping hosiery and the like from forms, a highly-improved and greatly-simplified means for collecting the stripped hosiery in a neat and orderly manner. In all of the prior machines of which I am aware that have stripped and collected hosiery, the collecting mechanisms have been both relatively complex in structure and relatively expensive to build and main tain. Certain of the prior mechanisms have also had other disadvantages. For example, one of the prior collecting mechanisms, shown in US. Patent No. 3,054,542, has employed long needles upon which the hosiery is received and collected, each hosiery article being pierced by the needles as it is collected. This penetration of needles through finished articles has been found objectionable in certain cases where threads have been pulled or 3,3ltl Patented May 16, 1967 broken and where the needle holes remain apparent in the goods after they are removed from the needles Accordingly, another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved method for stripping and collecting hosiery and the like, and, in a machine for stripping hosiery and the like from forms, an improved collecting means which avoids all distortion and damage to the goods.

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a machine for stripping hosiery and the like from forms, improved collecting means which has a minimum of moving parts, is inexpensive to build, and requires a minimum of maintenance, but yet is durable and reliable.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a collecting mechanism having all of the above-designated qualities, and which is ideally located with respect to the operator and is so constructed as to permit quick and easy unloading when a desired number of stockings have been collected thereon.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide in a machine of the above-described character, an improved mechanism for stripping hosiery and the like from forms and for carrying the hosiery to the collecting mechanism.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a hosiery boarding machine constructed in accordance with and embodying and utilizing the present invention, the machine being seen from the front and right side thereof and with a stocking being stripped from a hosiery board or form carried by the machine, after which the stocking will be carried upwardly to be collected upon an illustrated stack of stockings which have been previously collected;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective View, taken from the front and slightly to left of the machine, showing the collecting mechanism receiving a stocking which has been stripped from a hosiery board and carried upwardly to collecting position by the hosierystripping mechanism;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view of the lower front and right side of the machine, showing the stripping mechanism again in position to strip another stocking from a hosiery board, and with certain panels or doors removed from the machine so as to show additional hosiery-bearing boards within the treating chamber of the machine and about to emerge therefrom to the stripping station, and also to show in the lower base portion of the machine certain of the mechanisms em ployed for driving the stripping and collecting mechanisms;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the left side and rear of the machine, with certain panels or doors removed to show a plurality of the hosiery-bearing boards within the treating chamber and another hosiery-bearing form which has just entered the chamber, additional boards being seen at the front portion of the machine;

FIG. 5 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view of the hosiery board transport mechanism in the area adjacent the entrance to the treating chamber, as seen when looking downwardly from approximately the position of the line 5-5 in FIG. 4, certain parts being omitted for simplicity and clarity of illustration;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary, vertical sectional view, taken substantially along the line 6-6 of FIG. 1, illustrating the drive mechanism of the machine in the lower portion thereof;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken substantially along the line 77 in FIG. 6, showing that portion of the drive mechanism employed for producing the reciprocating motion of the stripping mechanism, and showing a support base for the stripping and collecting mechanism, certain background and other parts being omitted from the view for simplicity and clarity of illustration;

FIG. 8 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken substantially along the line 88 in FIG. 6, showing the lower portion of the drive mechanism employed for reciprocation of the hosiery-collecting table or shuttle;

FIG. 9 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing certain intermediate drive linkages which are mounted on the support base, and driven by the mechanism illustrated in FIG. 8, for driving the collecting table or shuttle;

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary elevational view of the support base as seen from the front or right of FIG. 9, with the drive mechanism of FIG. 7 being omitted therefrom for simplicity of illustration;

FIG. 11 is an enlarged detailed elevational view of the drive gear for the hoisery board transport system, with an adjustable cam on the upper side thereof for operating an air valve which controls the actuation of a clamp plate in the stripper mechanism;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged detailed plan view of the cam just referred to, together with a schematic representation of the air valve operated thereby;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary top plan view of the stripper support rails and the collecting mechanism, as seen substantially from the position of the line 1313 in FIG. 1, the stripper mechanism itself being omitted from the view for simplicity and clarity of illustration, and a portion of the collecting table or shuttle being cut away;

FIG. 14 is a side elevational view of the mechanism illustrate din FIG. 13;

FIG. 15 is an elevational view of the outer or left end of the apparatus of FIGS. 13 and 14, with the collecting mechanism being omitted from the view;

FIG. 16 is an elevational view, partly in section, taken substantially along the line 16-16 in FIG. 1, showing the stripping mechanism and the manner in which it is supported upon the rail system illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14;

FIG. 17 is a side view of the stripper mechanism as seen from the left of FIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is an elevational side view of the stripper mechanism as seen from the right of FIG. 16;

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 1919 in FIG. 17, showing certain details of the stripper construction;

FIG. 20 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially along the line 20-20 in FIG. 17;

FIG. 21 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially along the line 2121 in FIG. 18; and

FIG. 22 is a vertical cross-sectional view, in part schematic, taken through the upper portion of the machine to illustrate the treating chamber and the air circulation and heating means which may be employed in connection therewith, a representative hosiery form being shown by broken lines within the treating chamber.

In the drawings there is shown a machine embodying and utilizing the present invention, the machine including a circular base cabinet 10 and an upstanding drying compartment thereon designated generally by the numeral 11, within which hosiery 16 and the like, which has been placed upon boards 12 at the front of the machine, may be dried. The machine is arranged with a conveying mechanism, later to be described, for moving the hosiery boards or forms 12 from the right to the left across the front of the machine. An operator stands at the front of the machine and slips hosiery to be treated downwardly over the boards 12 as the boards move across the front of the machine, a supply of hosiery to be treated being provided in a readily-accessible location within a trough 13 provided on the front of the machine. The hosiery deposited upon the boards 12 is carried with the boards, one after another, into the drying or treating chamber 11 at the left side of the machine for processing. The hosiery boards, with the stockings thereon emerge, one after another, from the treating chamber 11 at the right of the front of the machine, and, as each board emerges from the treating chamber 11, it reaches a stripping position or zone and the stocking thereon is automatically stripped from the board by a reciprocating stripping mechanism designated generally by the numeral 14. This stripping mechanism 14 will be described in detail later herein, but, at the outset, it may be pointed out that the stripping mechanism is carried or moved upwardly and forwardly during a stripping stroke to strip the stocking from each form, each stocking being collected from the stripping mechanism 14, by a reciprocating transversely moving collecting mechanism 15, when the stripping mechanism reaches the top of its stroke. The transport mechanism, which carries the hosiery boards 12 with the hosiery 16 thereon, and the stripping mechanism 14 and the collecting mechanism 15 are all driven in synchronism by drive means described hereinafter, the hosiery articles being treated and ultimately being successively collected, one on top of another, in a neat and readily-accessible stack on the collecting mechanism 15.

Turning now to the base portion 10 of the machine, the base is comprised of an upstanding cylindrical wall 17 fabricated of heavy sheet steel or the like having a strength sufficient to support the weight of all parts and mechanisms contained within the upper portion of the machine. The wall 17 may be provided with a plurality of access panels 18 and 19, the access panel 19 being shown removed in FIG. 3 to reveal within the base portion 10 certain parts of the previously-mentioned drive mechanism. The lower inner-edge portion of the cylindrical wall 17 is re-enforced by a circular ring 20 (FIG. 6) of L-shaped cross section and on the under side of the ring 20, at appropriate positions around the periphery of the base portion 10, there are secured heavy, radiallyextending plates 21 which have adjacent their outer ends adjustable support and leveling screws 22, the lower ends of which may rest upon a floor designated in FIG. 6 by the numeral 23. If desired, the adjustable support screws 22 may have an axial passage therethrough for receiving an anchor pin 24 which may be appropriately anchored in the floor to hold the machine rigidly in a fixed position.

The upper inner periphery of the cylindrical wall 17 of the base portion 10 of the machine is provided with a reenforcing ring 25 which, like the re-enforcing ring 20, is preferably of L-shaped cross section. Welded or otherwise secured to the upper surface of the ring 25 is a heavy horizontally-disposed base plate 26, the latter of which supports all parts of the machine disposed above the plate 26.

Within the lower portion of the base 10 of the machine there are horizontally-extending frame elements, including a pair of parallel, spaced-apart I-beams 27 and 28, these I-beams, together with the base plate 26 serving to support the principal portions of the drive mechanisms.

On the under side of the plate 26 there is mounted a pair of downwardlyextending brackets 29 and 30, between which there horizontally extends a pair of rods 31, only one of which is seen in FIG. 6. These rods slidably carry a pair of brackets 32 and 33, on the under side of which is secured an electric drive motor 34. The shaft of the motor has mounted thereon an ordinary variable-speed V-belt pulley 35 about which there is entrained a drive V-belt 36, this V-belt also being entrained about a pulley 37 having a driving connection to a speedreducing unit 38 of readily-available commercial construction, the speed-reducing unit 38 being mounted in any suitable manner, such as by screws 39, upon the under side of the plate 26. A shaft 40 extends through the cylindrical wall 17 of the base portion 10 and has a hand wheel 41 secured to its outer end. The inner end of the shaft 40 is coupled, by a coupling 42, to one end of a thread shaft 43 which extends through and is threadedly received by an internally-threaded collar 44 provided on the lower portion of the previously-mentioned bracket 29. The other end of the threaded shaft 43 is rotata-bly fixed in the motor-hanger bracket 32, it thus being understood that, by manually rotating the Wheel 41, the motorhanger brackets 32 and 33 and the motor 34 thereon may be moved selectively to the right or to the left, as viewed in FIG. 6, thereby to vary the speed at which the variablespeed V-belt pulley 35 drives the V-belt 36 and the speedreducing unit 38.

A transport drive shaft 45 extends vertically from the speed-reducing unit 38 through an appropriate opening in the heavy base plate 26 and is journaled in a bracket portion 46 of a conveyor track 47, the upper end of the shaft 45 having fixed thereon a drive gear 4-8, upon the top of which there is secured a stripper timer cam 49. The cam 49, as will be explained hereinafter, controls the gripping action of the stripper mechanism 14 upon the hosiery 16 when the hosiery is gripped and stripped from the hosiery boards 12, the gripping action being subsequently released in timed relation to the collecting movement of the collector mechanism 15, thereby to release the stripped stocking at the proper time to be received upon the collecting mechanism 15.

The transport mechanism for carrying the hosiery boards 12 may be of any suitable construction providing proper movement or advancement of the hosiery boards, and, in the present instance, the transport mechanism shown is that which is illustrated, claimed, and described in detail in my co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 258,795, filed Feb. 15, 1963. This transport mechanism is comprised, broadly spreaking, of an endless chain of pivotally-interconnected links 53 and 54, the alternate links 53 having suitably secured thereto the upstanding hosiery boards 12. As will be explained in greater detail hereinafter, the links 53 and 54 ride on rollers carried in the endless coveyor track 47, the links being pushed into the treating chamber 11 by the action of the drive gear 48. As the links are pushed into the treating chamber 11, the links are permitted to pivot with respect to each other and to collapse, so that the hosiery boards or forms 12 within the treating chamber 11 are, in etfect, stacked side by side in a close, relatively-compact arrangement, in which condition the hosiery carried by the boards may be subjected to a drying action or any other suitable treatment desired. At the same time the links are being pushed into the treating chamber 11 at the left front side of the machine, corresponding links and hosiery boards are being pulled from the treating chamber 11 at the right side of the machine, thereby withdrawing the hosiery boards 1.2 successively from the treating chamber and into hosierystripping position, and thereafter into position at the front of the machine where the operator will apply another stocking to each freshly-stripped form or board.

The conveyor track 47 is endless and is preferably circular in shape except for a straight section thereof which extends from within the treating chamber at the right side of the machine, forwardly through the exit from the treating chamber and to the zone where the stripping from the hosiery boards takes place. The track 47 (FIG. 6) is provided with an upper channel 5t) and -a lower channel 51, the channel 51 being more narrow than the channel 54 thereby providing a shoulder 52 where the two channels join. As suggested above, the transport mechanism includes board-carrying links 53, each board-carrying link 53, at its opposite ends, resting upon and being pivotally connected to the ends of successive intermediate links 54. It is thus to be understood that the level of the links 54 is lower than that of the board-carrying links 53. Pivot pins 55 (FIG. 5 which pivotally join the successive links, have on their respective lower ends a roller 56 which rides in the upper channel 50 and is supported by the shoulders 52. Each pin which is disposed at the trailing end of each board-carrying link 53, additionally carries another roller (not shown) of smaller size than the roller 56. This additional roller is beneath a roller 56 and rides in the lower channel 51 of the transport or conveyor track 47. Each of the links 53 and 54 has a longitudinal curvature corresponding to the curvature of the circular portion of the track 47, and the outer-edge portion of the track 47 is covered by a curved plate 57 which overlies or overhangs the upper channel 50. The overhanging of the plate 57 with respect to the upper channel 50 of the transport track causes the plates 57 to overlie the rollers 56 and thus prevent the rollers 56 and the links and the hosiery boards 12 from being dislodged from the track 47.

The inner edge of each link 53 and 54 is provided with teeth 60 which correspond and are adapted to mesh with the teeth on the transport drive gear 48. The links 53 and 54 are thus driven by the drive gear 48, as shown in FIG. 5, the drive gear 48 being adapted to be rotated by the speed-reducing unit 38 in a clockwise direction. Opposite the position of the drive gear 48, a plurality of backup rollers 61 may be mounted to bear against the outer surface of the successive links 53 and 54 as the teeth 60 on the links come into mesh with the teeth of the drive gear 48.

As seen in FIG. 5, the links are driven in the direction of the arrow 62, the links moving into the treating chamber 11 through an opening 63 provided in an upstanding vertical wall 64 which forms the front wall of the treating chamber. The opposite vertical edge portions of the opening 63 are preferably provided with flexible neoprene or rubber sheets 65 which serve to close the opening 63 to prevent hot air or the like from emerging from that open ing, but yet permit the links 53 and 54 and the hosiery boards 12 to be pushed by the drive gear 48 into the treating chamber 11.

Just inside the treating chamber 11 adjacent the opening 63, the outer wall of the upper channel 50 of the conveyor track 47 is cut out to provide therein an exit opening 66 for the roller 56 at the leading end of each boardcarrying link 53. It will be understood that beneath each roller 56 at the leading end of each link 53 there is no lower roller riding in the lower channel 51 of the track 47. Thus, as the links 53 and 54 are pushed into the treating chamber 11, the pushing force causes each link 53 to tend to buckle outwardly with its next preceding intermediate link 54. As the roller 56 at the leading end of each link 53 comes to a position in registry with or opposite the opening 66 in the outer wall of the upper channel 50 of the conveyor track, that roller 56 moves outwardly of the track 47 and thus permits the links 53 and S4 to buckle with respect to each other. The path followed by the roller 56 at the leading end of each boardcarrying link 53 during the buckling is represented by the path of the arrows in FIG. 5. As the pairs of links 53 and 54 buckle with respect to each other, the under side of each preceding intermediate link 54 slides across the flat surface of a curved support plate 67, thereby permitting the links 53 and 54 to be moved successively into the sideby-side stacked position illustrated in the upper portion of FIG. 5. The trailing end of each link 53, it will be noted, continues to follow the track 47 because of the lower roller therebeneath which remains in the lower channel 51 of the track. As each successive pair of links 53 and 54 is caused to buckle and to be pushed into stacked position, the entire group of stacked links and the upright hosiery forms thereon are advanced within the treating chamber 11 a distance approximtely equal to the width of one link. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that the movement of the links and forms 12 through the treating chamber is quite slow and intermittent, although the movement of the links and forms outside the chamber is continuous and at a more rapid rate.

As previously suggested, as the links 53 and 54 and the hosiery boards 12 are being moved into and stacked and advanced within the treating chamber 11, corresponding links 53 and 54 and hosiery boards 12 are being withdrawn from the opposite side of the treating chamber 11. The area where this withdrawal operation takes place is best seen in the central foreground of FIG. 3. The conveyor track 47 exteriorly of the treating chamber 11 is covered on its front and back sides by a protective shell 70, the upper portion of the shell 70 being open and provided with flexible converging strips of neoprene or rubber-like material 71, the latter of which permits free movement of the hosiery forms 12, but yet prevents foreign objects from being dropped downwardly onto the track 47 and the links 53 and 54. As perhaps best seen in FIG 3, that portion 70a of the shell 70 covering the track 47 at the exit from the treating chamber 11 is straight, and the track 47 within the shell portion 70a is likewise straight, the straight portion of the track extending a short distance into the treating chamber 11.

In the stacked condition of the links within the treating chamber 11, the rollers 56 at the outer ends of the boardcarrying links 53 ride on the outer lip portion 71 of a secondary or outer track 72 (FIG. This secondary or outer track 72 follows the curvature of the track 47 within the treating chamber, but terminates just short of the straight portion of the track 47 just mentioned. As the rollers 56 at the outer ends of the links 53 move off of the terminal portion of the outer or secondary track 72, the pulling force exerted by the drive gear 48 on the chain of links in the area of the exit from the treating chamber 11 causes the successive buckled links 53 and 54 to unbuckle and, in effect, straighten out. This straightening out of the buckled links 53 and 54 is assisted by a switch bar 73 which, as seen in FIG. 3, is disposed at an angle with respect to the straight portion of the track 47 adjacent the exit from the treating chamber 11. The rollers 56 which have been riding upon and following the secondary track 72 bump the diagonally-disposed switch bar 73 and are thus guided or restored to the upper channel 50 in the straight portion of the track 47 through an opening (not shown) in the outer wall of the upper channel 50 of the track corresponding, in essence, to the opening 66 through which these rollers left the confines of the upper channel 50.

After the links 53 and 54 are straightened out and the rollers 56 thereon are restored to the upper channel 50 of the track 57, the links and the upstanding hosiery boards 12 are withdrawn from the treating chamber 12 through an exit opening 74 in the front wall 64 of the treating chamber 11. This front opening 74 is preferably provided with a pair of converging neoprene or rubberlike flexible sheets 75 which protrude outwardly with respect to the opening 47 and serve to close the opening, while permitting the hosiery forms 12 and the hosiery items 16 thereon to emerge freely from the treating chamber 11 to the stripping zone.

The treating chamber 11 may be of any suitable structure. In the present instance, the sides and rear portion of the treating chamber are provided with a plurality of removable doors 80, which are shown, for the most part, to be removed in FIGS. 3 and 4, in order that the interior of the treating chamber and the stacked hosiery forms and links may be seen. The upper portions of the sides of the treating chamber are closed by a plurality of permanent panels 81, and the top of the treating chamber is closed by a top wall 82. This top wall 82 is shown in FIG. 22, where there is illustrated a largely schematic arrangement by which hosiery may be dried and/ or heattreated within the present embodiment of the machine. As there seen, an electric motor 83 may be mounted upon and below the base plate 26 and arranged to drive a fan 84 mounted upon a shaft 85. The shaft 85 may be carried in a suitable bearing provided on a bracket 86, the latter of which may be suitably mounted upon the upper surface of the base plate 26 within the treating chamber 11. The fan in the present instance is arranged to blow air upwardly through a cylindrical passage 87 and into an upper interior chamber 88, from which a portion of the air may be expelled through an opening 89 in the upper wall 82 of the treating chamber. The major portion of the air, however, may be caused to pass downwardly through a set of heat-exchange coils 90. The heated air emerging from the lower side of the group 'of heat-exchange coils 90 may then pass downwardly over the stacked, upstanding hosiery forms 12, in order to dry or otherwise treat hosiery carried by the forms, and then back to the fan 84, as shown in FIG. 22. That portion of the heated and moist air expelled from the treating chamber 11 through the opening 89 in the top 82 of the chamber may be replaced by air drawn into the treating chamber 11 from the interior of the lower of base portion 10 of the machine through a suitable opening provided in the base plate 26 about the shaft 85.

The inner sides of the removable panels 80, which close the sides and rear of the treating chamber 11, may be provided with inwardly-directed bafiles 91, so as to provide a venturi effect in the area adjacent the hosiery forms 12.

The top wall 82, and the front wall 64, as well as the fixed panels 81 and the removable panels 80, may be insulated in any way desired. In FIG. 22, insulation is shown in the interior of the upper wall 82, although for convenience of illustration it has been omitted from the representations of the front wall 64, the panels 81 and the removable panels 80.

Turning now to FIG. 6, it will be observed that a drive shaft extends from the lower end of the speed-reducing unit 38 and is coupled, by a flexible coupling 101 or the like, to a vertically-disposed shaft 102 of a miter gear assembly 103. The miter gear assembly 103 is suitably mounted in any convenient manner upon the I-beams 27 and 28 and has a drive shaft 104 extending horizontally therefrom to the right, as viewed in FIG. 6. The drive shaft 104 is coupled, by a coupling 105, to one end of another drive shaft 106, the opposite end of which is supported in a bearing assembly 107 contained in the upper portion of an upstanding standard 108 which is mounted between the I-beams 27 and 28 upon a heavy plate 109 secured to the under sides of the I-beams 27 and 28. The extremity of the shaft 106, beyond the standard 108 and its supporting bearing 107, has fixed thereon a crank 110 which has on its outer end a cam-follower roller 111. This crank 110 and the cam-follower roller 11]. serve to drive, in reciprocation, a stripper drive arm 112. As best seen in FIGS. 6 and 7, the stripper drive arm 112 is pivotally mounted at its lower end upon a horizontallydisposed pin 113 carried in the upstanding legs of a U-shaped block 114 mounted between the I-beams 27 and 28 on the heavy plate 109 previously mentioned. The stripper drive arm 112 extends generally rearwardly and upwardly from the area occupied by the I-beams 27 and 28, as illustrated in FIG. 7, and the I-beam 28 may be cut out, as at 28a (FIG. 7), to avoid any interference between the I-beam 28 and the stripper drive arm 112 during reciprocating movement of the latter.

In FIG. 7 the stripper drive arm 112 is shown in solid lines in a rearward or retracted position and is illustrated by broken lines in an advanced position, these illustrations of the stripper drive arm 112 representing nearly the extent of the stroke through which the drive arm is moved during one cycle of its operation, i.e., during one complete revolution of the shaft 106. As will be explained more fully hereinafter, the solid-line position of the stripper drive arm 112 seen in FIG. 7 corresponds to the position of the stripper mechanism 14 momentarily after it has left its lowest position and has just begun to advance upwardly, at which time the stripper mechanism 14 grips a stocking 16 on one of the hosiery boards 12 and thereupon 'begins to strip the stocking from the hosiery board as the stripper arm 112 continues to move from its solid-line position in FIG. 7 toward its broken-line position. The broken-line position of the stripper arm 112 in FIG. 7, on the other hand, corresponds to the position of the stripper mechanism 14 shortly before it reaches its uppermost position illustrated in FIG. 2, wherein the stocking 16 has been fully stripped from a hosiery board 12 and has been carried upwardly by the stripping mechanism 14 to the collecting position, wherein the stripping mechanism 14 is caused to release its grip from the stocking and permit that stocking to be received upon the collected mechanism 15.

In order to accomplish the reciprocation of the stripper drive arm 112 referred to above, the stripper drive arm has formed on the upper side thereof, adjacent its lower end, an upstanding side flange 112a upon which there is secured a cam member 115 having formed therein a banana-shaped cam race 116 in which the cam-follower roller 111 on the crank arm 110 rides. Those skilled in the art will immediately recognize that, as the crank arm 110 is caused to rotate by the rotation of the shaft 1%. the cam-follower roller 111 will drive the cam member 15, and thus the stripper arm 112 in the reciprocating path described above. The banana-shaped cam race 116 is provided with the pa1ticular shape illustrated in FIG. 7, in order, not only to produce the reciprocation just referred to, but also to produce a dwell period in the movement of the stripper drive arm 112 at both ends of its stroke. Momentarily before the solid-line position of the crank arm 110 in FIG. 7 is reached, the cam-follower roller 111 will have passed the position within the cam race 116 at which the stripper arm 112 reverses its direction of movement and starts to advance in a forward direction, that is, from left to right as seen in FIG. 7. The stripper drive arm 112 dwells momentarily as it re verses its direction when it reaches the full-line position of FIG. 7, the stripper drive arm 112 will be moving slowly, but will be accelerating in the direction toward its broken-line position as the cam-follower roller 111 progressively moves downwardly into the lower portion of the cam race 116. When the roller 111 reaches the bottom of the cam race 116, the stripper drive arm 112 will have its greatest forward speed, and, as the roller 111 begins thereafter to raise from the bottom of the race 116, the drive arm 112, which will still be advancing toward its forwardmost position, will begin to decelerate.

The drive arm 112 will reach its most forward pOsition and will dwell momentarily when the roller 111, in its movement up the cam race 116, reaches the center of the cam race. The arm 112 will thus dwell in its forwardmost position, while the stripped stocking 16 is being received upon the collecting mechanism 15. Thereafter, as the roller 111 passes through the central portion of the cam race 116 and into the upper portion of the cam race, the return movement of the arm 112 will begin, this movement 'being accelerated until the cam roiler reaches the uppermost end of the cam race 116, at which p int the arm 112 will be at the halfway point in its return movement. As the roller 111 thereafter begins to return from the uppermost end of the cam race 116 toward the center thereof, the arm 112 will continue to move rearwardly toward its most rearward position, but this remaining portion of the return stroke will be at a decelerating pace.

The cam race 116 is so shaped, and the speed of rotation of the shaft 106 is so proportioned with respect to the drive speed of the hosiery form transport mechanism that the horizontal forward component of movement of the stripping mechanism 14, at the beginning of a stripping stroke of the drive arm 112 and the stripping mechanism 14 driven thereby, is approximately equal to the horizontal speed of the hosiery board 12 being stripped in the hosiery-stripping zone immediately outside the exit opening 74 of the hosiery-treating chamber 11. Thus, in the initial movement of the stripping mechanism 14, the gripping jaws therein, which will later be described in detail, grip the foot portion of a stocking 16 on a form 12 and effectively lift that foot portion of the stocking substantially vertically with respect to the form, thereby partially to clear the heel portion of the stocking 16 from 111 the heel portion of the form 12. As the stripping operation proceeds, the stripping stroke of the stripping mechanism 14 accelerates, thereby to strip the stocking forwardly and upwardly off of the hosiery form 12.

The connection between the stripper drive arm 112 and the stripping mechanism 14, is comprised of a stripper pusher rod 129. The lower end of the pusher rod is pivotally connected to the extremity of the drive arm 112, and the upper end of the pusher rod 120 is pivotally connected, by a pin 121, to a yoke 122 formed on the under side of a bearing assembly 123 provided on the stripper assembly 14 and adapted to slide on a stripper slide rod 124, the mounting of the latter of which will presently be described. The stripper push rod 120 extends upwardly through an opening 26a (FIG. 6) in the heavy base plate 26, this opening also accommodating the upper portion of the stripper drive arm 112 when the latter is in the upper reaches of its stroke. The push rod 129 also extends through an opening (not shown), in the front wall 6-1 of the treating chamber 11.

Due to the fact that the stripper drive arm 112 is, in all of its positions, disposed rearwardly of its pivotal mountin on the pin 113, the stripper arm 112 may be provided with a counterbalancing coiled tension spring 125, one end of the tension spring being connected to the upper edge of the flange 112a of the stripper arm 112, and the opposite end (not shown) being fixed in any suitable manner as, for example, to the under side of the heavy base plate 26. The use of the spring 125 is entirely optional, but it may be used to counterweight the stripper drive arm 112 if desired.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6 and 8, the shaft 106 also has fixed thereon a cam wheel 126 having formed on one face thereof an eccentric cam race 127 for operating a cam-follower roller 128 this cam-follower roller being mounted upon one side of a collector mechanism drive arm 129 which has one of its ends pivotally mounted upon a pin 1311 (FIG. 8) which extends horizontally between a pair of brackets 131 (FIG. 6) fixed in any suitable manner upon the upper surface of the I-beam 27. Thus, it will be understood that, as the shaft 106 is rotated, the arm 129, which extends generally rearwardly with respect to the I-beams 27 and 28, will be raised and lowered, due to the shape of the cam race 127 in the cam wheel 126. This raising and lowering of the arm 129 is utilized to drive the collector mechanism 15 in a reciprocating motion which will be described in more detail later. To this end, however, it may now be observed (FIGS. 8 and 9) that a first collector push rod 132 has its lower end pivotally secured to the free end of the arm 129, the uppermost end of the push rod 132 being pivotally connected to a bell crank 134. This bell crank 134i is pivotally mounted upon a pin 135 (FIG. 10) which extends horizontally from one side of a rigid upstanding support frame member 136, preferably in the form of a casting securely mounted upon the heavy base plate 26 within the treating chamber 11 immediately to the rear of the front wall 64 thereof. The push rod 132, it will be seen, extends upwardly, from the drive arm 129 to the bell crank 134, through an appropriate opening 26b provided in the heavy base plate 26.

As the collector drive arm 129 is reciprocated in an up-and-down motion during the rotation of the shaft 106 and the cam Wheel 126, the push rod 132 causes the bell crank 134 to reciprocate in a pivotal motion about the pin 135. This pivotal motion of the bell crank 134 is utilized to produce the reciprocating motion of the collector mechanism 15, by means of a linkage mechanism later to be described which includes a second collector push rod 137 that has its lowermost end pivotally connected to the free end 134:: of the bell crank 134, the second push rod 137 extending diagonally upwardly and forwardly through an opening 64a (FIG. 1) inthe front wall 64 of the treating chamber 11.

Referring particularly to FIGS; 7 and 10, the rigid stripper support rod 124 extends diagonally upwardly and forwardly through the front wall 64 of the treating chamber, the lowermost end of the rod 124 being very securely mounted upon the upstanding frame member 136 by means of heavy clamps 140 provided on one side of the frame member 136. These clamps 140 are of ordinary construction and need not be described in detail, in view of their illustration in FIGS. 7 and 10.

The stripper support rod 124, forwardly of the front wall 64 of the treating chamber, has a clamp 141 thereon (FIGS. 2 and 13). This clamp 141 has an arm 142 formed thereon, which extends laterally with respect to the rod 124, the outermost end of the arm 142 having secured thereto, as by screws 143 (FIG. 13), a stripper guide and stabilizing bar 144. This bar 144 is generally rectangular in cross section and extends from the arm 142 parallel to the support rod 124. The uppermost ends of the rod 124 and the bar 144 are secured to and carry a rigid casting member 145 of inverted L-shape, the casting being secured to the outermost end of the rod 124 by a pair of screws 146 and to the outermost end of the bar 144 by one or more screws 147. The support rod 124 and the stabilizing and guide bar 144 are thus rigidly mounted and secured together and, as will presently be explained, they serve as a track upon which the stripping mechanism 14 rides.

The stripping mechanism 14 includes the previouslymentioned bearing member 123, which slides upon the support rod 124 and is driven by the previously-described push rod 120. The upper side of the bearing member 123 is flat and has secured thereto, as by screws 150 (FIG. 16), a plate 151 which serves as a frame for the various elements of the stripper mechanism 14. The plate 115 has fixed on its under side a depending block 152 which has mounted on one side thereof a pair of rollers 153 that ride on the upper and lower surfaces of the stabilizing and guide bar 144. Thus, it will be seen that, as the stripper push rod 120 is reciprocated by the mechanism previously described, the bearing member 123 will slide back and forth along the heavy support rod 124 and the rollers 153 will ride back and forth along the guide and stabilizing bar 144 while, at the same time, giving the plate 151 full support and stability.

At the right side of the plate 151, as viewed in FIGS. 2 and 16, a block 155 is securely mounted beneath the plate by means of spacer members 156 and screws 157. The outer lateral surface of the block 155 has secured thereto, as by screws 158, a depending plate 159 which serves as a stationary outer gripping jaw for the stripping mechanism 14. The shape of this stationary jaw 159 is best illustrated in FIG. 18, it being observed that the rearmost end of the plate is flared out at 159a and that the lower portion of the plate provides a depending skirt having a substantially-horizontal lower edge (FIGS. 1 and 2).

On the side of the block 155 opposite the plate or jaw 159, there is secured a heavy depending plate 160, the lower end of which is rounded, as at 160a. On the inner surface of the plate 160 an inflatable diaphragm 170, of rubber or the like, is mounted by means of a circular ring 171, the circular ring being secured to the inner surface of the plate 160, as by screws 172 (FIG. 20), the circular ring 171 overlying the periphery of the diaphragm 170 and clamping the periphery of the diaphragm to the plate 160 in an air-tight manner. A flexible air line 173, of plastic, neoprene, or the like, extends from an air connection 174, provided on the forward face of the front wall 64 of the treating chamber 11 (FIG. 1), through an opening 151a in the plate 151 of the stripper mechanism 14 (FIG. 16) and to a standard air-line fitting 175 (FIGS. 17 and 19) threaded into an opening 176 provided through the plate 169 beneath the diaphragm 170. Thus, it will be appreciated that compressed air may be applied through the air line 173 to the under side of the diaphragm 170 to cause the diaphragm to bulge or be inflated outwardly from the plate 160 toward the fixed plate or jaw 159 of the stripping mechanism. This inflation of the diaphragm 170 is utilized to actuate a movable gripping jaw 177 of the stripping mechanism.

The movable gripping jaw of the stripping mechanism 14 is comprised of a plate 178 which overlies the diaphragm 1741 and is fixed upon the ends of a pair of pins 180 (FIG. 19) that extend through the plate and are slidably mounted therein in bearings 181, the innermost end portions of the pins 180 being free to pass through suitable openings provided in the circular diaphragm clamping ring 170. The respective outer ends of the pins 180 have washers 182 fixed thereon, and beneath these Washers each pin 180 is provided with a compression spring 183. The outer end of each compression spring 183 is adapted to bear upon the corresponding fixed washer 182, and the inner end of the compression spring is seated in a recess provided in the plate 160. Thus, it will be understood that the pins 180 are constantly urged outwardly (as seen in FIG. 19) by the springs 183, thereby causing the plate 178 to be urged toward an open position with respect to the fixed plate or jaw 159 of the stripping apparatus. The force of the springs, however, is overcome when the diaphragm is inflated, thereby moving the plate 178 and the entire movable jaw 177 toward the jaw 159 and into clamping relation thereto.

If desired, the respective pins and their co-operating springs 183 may each be covered by a cap 184, the caps being threadedly received in the recesses in the plate 160 within which the springs 183 are seated. The outermost end of each cap 184 threadedly receives a set screw 185, the innermost end of which is adapted to abut the outermost end of the corresponding pin 180. Thus, the set screws 185 may be utilized to adjust the fully-open position of the plate 178.

The inner surface of the movable plate 178 of the movable jaw 177 of the stripping mechanism has adhesively or otherwise secured thereto a layer of soft spongy polyurethane or the like, and on the outer surface of the layer 190 there are secured two strips of mohair or the like, 191 and 192. The strip 191 of mohair is adhesively or otherwise secured to the layer 190 in a position such that the natural nap of the mohair is directed toward the front of the stripping apparatus, as seen in FIG. 19. The strip 192 of mohair is positioned upon the layer 190 in the area thereof which will contact the heel portion of a stocking 16 on a board 12 when stripping is about to take place, and the nap of the mohair strip 192 is arranged, so that the nap is directed upwardly, as shown in FIG. 21. Corresponding sections of mohair 193 and 194 are adhesively or otherwise secured to the inner side of the stationary plate or jaw 159 of the stripping mechanism, the mohair strip 193 being disposed opposite the strip 191 with its nap being directed forwardly. Similarly, the mohair strip 194 is positioned opposite the strip 192, and its nap, like the nap on the strip 192, is directed upwardly.

In view of the foregoing description of the stripper mechanism 14, it will be understood that, when the stripper mechanism is moved downwardly to its stripping position, the fixed jaw 159 and the movable jaw 177 of the stripper mechanism will straddle the upper portion of a hosiery form 12, and the stocking thereon, both of which have just emerged from the treating chamber 11. With the jaws in this straddling position, wherein the mohair strips 191 and 193 are on opposite sides of the foot portion of the stocking, and the mohair strips 192 and 194 are on opposite sides of the heel portion of the stocking, the diaphragm 170 is inflated to actuate the movable jaw 177 and thus clamp the stocking between the two jaws for stripping purposes. The previously-described stripping motion of the stripping mechanism thereupon begins and first tends to raise the foot and heel portions of the stocking directly upwardly with respect 

2. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING A HOISERY ARTICLE OR THE LIKE BOARDED UPON AN UPSTANDING FORM, COMPRISING MEANS FOR GRIPPING THE FOOT PORTION OF THE HOISERY ARTICLE AND FOR STRIPPING THE ARTICLE FROM THE FORM AND CARRYING SAID ARTICLE TO A RECEIVING STATION WHEREIN THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE ARTICLE HANGS DOWNWARDLY, A PLATFORM, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID PLATFORM ENDWISE ALONG A PREDETERMINED PATH INTO DISPLACING ENGAGEMENT WITH THEHANGING PORTION OF SAID HOISERY ARTICLE, AND MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID GRIPPING MEANS TO RELEASE ITS GRIP UPON SAID FOOT PORTION OF SAID ARTICLE DURING SAID MOVEMENT OF SAID PLATFORM AND AFTER SAID ENGAGEMENT OF SAID PLATFORM WITH SAID ARTICLE, THEREBY TO DEPOSIT SAID ARTICLE UPON SAID PLATFORM. 